Guitar Processing With Dave Smith Instruments' Evolver

Good Things Come in Small Packages . . . and So Do Surprises

By Craig Anderton

I like little boxes. I like little boxes that do lots of things even more.

When Dave Smith introduced Evolver, a lot of keyboard players salivated over the prospect of a compact, inexpensive, great-sounding monophonic synth with an artful blend of analog and digital technology. Almost lost in the shuffle was the fact that it had guitar- and studio-friendly stereo inputs, with pretty potent processing power.

It may look like a synthesizer, and it is. But it's also a very hip signal processor.

So does it replace a traditional multieffects? No; for example, there's no reverb. But if you do recording and play guitar -- or even better, record and double on keyboards and guitar -- this box addresses all of those needs, and then some.

PROCESSING MODULES

The main attraction for processing is two analog lowpass resonant filters (not digital emulations), switchable between 2 and 4-pole operation. There's one for each channel. Additional per-channel digital highpass filters are good for trimming out some boominess from a guitar signal; there's also distortion, which can go pre- or post-filter.

Of particular interest to guitarists are two control sources: envelope follower and peak detector. There are three envelopes (triggerable from the input signal), tempo-syncable LFOs that respond to incoming MIDI tempo information, tunable feedback loops for each channel, and a three-tap monaural delay. Delay can be tempo-synched, with the feedback path routable through the filter; and of course, you can use the internal sequencer to control parameters like filter cutoff.

To get the most out of Evolver, you'll need to jack into the matrix . . . of parameters, that is. Select the Row containing a parameter to be edited, find the parameter's Column, then turn the Column's associated knob to change the parameter value. Once you get into the unit, this is actually a pretty painless process. But if you prefer, computer editors are available from the Dave Smith web site, along with templates for the Peavey PC-1600 (which turns out to be a surprisingly effective way to edit).

PREPARE FOR GUITAR . . .

Odds are your guitar is mono, so plug into the Left jack, as that's where the envelope follower and peak hold modules derive their trigger. The "guitar" factory programs (Bank 3, 20-29) have the Ext In parameter (Row 8, Column 7) preset to L, or Left input only. This setting is saved for each patch, so if you create your own programs or overwrite existing programs with guitar setups, make sure to set this parameter to L. Also, you may need to adjust the Input Gain (second Main row, Column 3) depending on the patch and your instrument's output level.

. . . BUT PRETEND IT'S A SYNTH

The guitar programs give only a taste of Evolver's talents: For wicked guitar fun, choose a synth patch that messes with filtering, and adapt it to guitar. Here's an example of how to adapt a synth patch, using Factory Patch 19 in Bank 1. (Make sure your guitar is plugged into the left input before proceeding.)

1. Turn down all oscillator outputs. The level controls are located at Rows 1 and 2, Columns 4 and 8.
2. Turn up the Ext In volume (Row 8, Column 6) so the guitar gets mixed in to the signal path instead of the oscillators.
3. Increase the Input Gain control if needed.
4. Hit the Start/Stop switch to start the sequencer. You'll hear pulsating, filtered effects; adjust the tempo to suit.
5. Now let's double-time it with some echo. Go to Row 5, Column 4 and set Time to St2. Turn up the delay Level in Column 5 to around 50 or so.
6. Row 3 also has some useful parameters: Play around with Columns 3, 4, and 7 (Attack, Decay, and Resonance, respectively).

This single example just scratches the surface; my own experiments with this instrument continue to, uh, evolve. But if you thought the guitar patches represent Evolver's total contribution to guitar processing, you have some pleasant surprises in store.

Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.